Events Archive

It has been said that we cannot prosecute our way out of the problem of elder abuse. A myriad of complex legal issues arise from typical scenarios of elder abuse, neglect and financial exploitation that are uniquely addressed by civil legal providers working in collaboration with APS and P&A attorneys. Legal remedies such as asset recovery, revoking PoAs, removal of abusive guardians, restoring public benefits, recession of property transactions, contracts and wills, housing fairness, and Olmstead remedies are at the very center of assuring the independence, safety, and financial security of older adult and people with disabilities who fall victim to elder abuse.

Incidences of elder abuse, exploitation, or other forms of mistreatment of older adults by family members, friends and other trusted adults, are on the increase. Uncovering and remedying elder abuse or exploitation often involves determining what an older person that may be experiencing cognitive decline understands or understood in the past.

Financial exploitation of older adults is the most common form of elder abuse and costs older adults billions of dollars each year. Victims are robbed of their resources, independence and dignity. State and federal governments are often first responders and can play key roles in protecting older consumers. Government agencies have developed the expertise and tools to fight scammers, help victims, and make policy and practice recommendations to key stakeholders.

Historical discrimination and the financial devastation of the Great Recession has led to extreme wealth inequality and a widening racial wealth gap between households of color and white households.Advocates and policymakers seek to develop policies to build wealth and opportunity in households of color and close the gap.

A recent article by the Seattle Times and Buzzfeed News has exposed discriminatory practices by the nation’s largest manufactured housing company, Clayton Homes and its lending subsidiaries Vanderbilt Mortgage and 21st Mortgage. The article alleges that borrowers of color were steered into higher-rate loans, rushed at loan closing, charged substantially higher rates, on average, than white borrowers, and subject to abusive collection practices when the loans defaulted. Customers lost their homes, thousands of dollars in down payments, and ancestral homeland put up as collateral to back the loans.

This webinar will focus on the intersection of elder financial abuse and public benefits cases, including the underlying financial stresses of elders who are vulnerable to these types of abuses. We will discuss benefits that can be compromised such as Social Security and Medicaid as well as strategies and tactics to educate older adults and their caregivers, resolve cases and restore benefits. The webinar will cover such topics as power of attorney abuse, breach of fiduciary duties, and Medicaid hardship waiver applications.

This webinar focused on fraudulent real property transactions commonly perpetrated by family members and trusted fiduciaries. We will provide an overview of elder financial exploitation related to property, talk about prevention measures, and explain strategies and tactics successfully used to handle cases and recover assets.

Additional sponsorship for this Webinar is provided by a grant from the Administration on Aging/Administration for Community Living. This webinar is part of a series of National Elder Rights Training Project/Elder Abuse Prevention webinars for the National Legal Resource Center.

Recently, ProPublica published, "The Color of Debt", a first-of-its-kind analysis that showed that debt collection lawsuits are far more common in black communities than white ones. This webinar will cover the details of ProPublica's analysis of court data, explore what trends emerged among the different types of companies filing suits over consumer debt, and discuss possible causes for the racial disparity in lawsuits.

The constant news about data breaches and scams targeting seniors has left people worried about their rights if an unauthorized charge is taken out of their account. Consumers also face problems when a gym, unwanted membership club or payday lender will not stop debiting the account. This webinar will cover consumers' rights to challenge unauthorized payments and to stop recurring payments.